Officer dragged by fleeing vehicle; police pursuit ends in Ogden

By Amy Joi O'Donoghue |
Posted - Mar 30th, 2013 @ 10:47pm

OGDEN — An officer on a traffic stop was dragged a short distance by a fleeing vehicle, sparking an all-out police pursuit that ended in a crash and a foot chase through a field.

Ogden Police Lt. Will Cragun said the incident started Saturday night at 9th Street and Liberty Avenue, where two officers in separate cars stopped a vehicle and then attempted to arrest the male driver.

Cragun said the man, 27, had a misdemeanor warrant and refused to get out of the car. One of the officers opened the door and reached in to take the man into custody, but the man hit the gas pedal and took off. The officer's shirt somehow was entangled with the car and he was dragged a short distance before he broke free.

He was treated for minor injuries and released at the scene.

Other officers pursued the vehicle until 12th Street and Lincoln Avenue, where it sideswiped a truck and sedan before crashing into a stop sign. Cragun said none of the occupants in the other vehicles were injured.

The man fled into a nearby field where officers deployed a Taser on him and he was apprehended, Cragun said, with a subsequent search that turned up illegal drugs in the man's possession.

He was taken to an area hospital for treatment before being booked into the Weber County Jail on multiple offenses.